“We will no longer develop new internal combustion engines.”
Those might seem like shocking words coming from Audi, a company that can trace its gasoline-powered heritage all the way back to 1899. And the company will still sell you a V10-powered R8 today if you have $142,700 to spare. But the no-new-engine promise comes from Audi Chairman Markus Duesmann.
The announcement likely doesn’t mean the end of Audi’s current internal combustion engine (ICE) lineup. Instead, Duesmann says, Audi will continue to adapt its existing gasoline- and diesel-powered engines to meet new emissions guidelines. Still, it remains intent on moving toward an electrified future.
In the U.S., Audi currently sells the battery-electric e-tron SUV and a plug-in hybrid version of its Q5 SUV. In the near future, it plans to bring other all-electric models stateside, including the Q4 e-tron compact SUV and the Porsche Taycan-based e-tron GT tourer. An all-electric replacement for the Audi TT sports car is still planned but has no on-sale date yet.
Meanwhile, Oliver Zipse, CEO of rival BMW, tells reporters his company “has no plans to stop developing internal combustion engines.” Rather, he anticipates “demand for ICE vehicles will remain robust for many years to come.”
